For anyone wanting to quit smoking...Chantix is it

My doctor started me on this a little over a week ago and I am already touting it to be the wonder drug! In 8 days I have gone from over a pack a day to half a pack. No side effects that I can tell and I feel great. I have picked the 27th (the day my dad passed away 14 years ago) as my "day" to quit. You don't know how happy I am and how excited husband is for me.

I know there was a post on here a while back about Chantix. The only drawback is that most insurance companies aren't covering it yet. Mine does (UHC) but it is $35/month, but since that's under a third of what I spent on smoking it is so worth it. The doctor said NOT to quit smoking when you first start taking it and that after about 2-3 weeks I should just not want to smoke. I am almost to that point. I really think I am going to be successful this time. The only other times I have quit smoking for the last 30 or so years is when I was pregnant with both boys.

I quit 6 months ago using Chantix for just 1 month. I felt I just needed a bit of help getting over the physical addiction part and the head/mind part I was willing to handle on my own. I've been successful and intend to keep it that way! I am so happy being a non smoker, except for the weight gain that I haven't been able to budge, but I'll keep working at it. Good luck to you, you'll be so proud of yourself!

Ha Ha Esther! I know you are as serious as one can be asking that question. I LOVED smoking, probably still would if I would allow myself to smoke again. Each person has to have their motivator. I happen to have several. What should be my biggest motivator is that I have Thyroid Eye Disease. Smoking makes this worse so the literature says. I have had radiation treatments to my eyes, three months ago I had an orbital decompression surgery and have about three more surgeries to go to correct the havoc this disease has caused my eyes in the coming months. I certainly don't want my smoking to make me have another flare and I want to heal pretty too.

My other BIG motivator is that they just plain stink. And I knew how filthy they smelled when I did smoke. I was so embarrassed of my smoking. I've actually had people tell me that I didn't look like the type to smoke. They were right and wrong in that statement.

And finally, I absolutely hated that *I* allowed something so filthy, harmful, smelly and expensive to control me!
They are still controlling me somewhat because I allow those smoking thoughts to come into my mind, still. But........... I plan to control myself and never pick one up again. This last statement, I had a hard time accepting until I was a nonsmoker, I didn't really see it or believe it until I was on the outside looking in.

I'll never be one of those nasty ex smokers. When you are ready, you will quit. If you aren't interested, then that's your gig. They are still legal. I do know one thing for certain tho, they were certainly my nerve calmer. My anxiety level has been much higher since I quit that's for sure, but my doctor and I have an understanding! Good luck in whatever you do!

I am just beginning week three of Chantix and have gone from about 15 cigs a day down to 3. I seem to be stuck at 3, but the desire for the smoke breaks is down to almost nothing. I am hoping that as I continue to go, I will want them less and less.

I want to be non-smoker and am looking forward to the day that I can say that I am.

My dr. actually said to take it for a full three weeks - then set a quit date about a week after that. He said there are new studies out - looking at quitters who used Chantix - a year later - and those who took it for at least 3 weeks before actually quitting were still non-smokers 12 months out. I want that to be me in a year.

I was never a full time smoker. In fact, I would often forget to buy cigarettes and it didn't worry me because I knew I could if I wanted to the next day. I would sometimes go days or weeks without one and then just pick one up as if a day hadn't passed at all. That was before kids. Then I quit and never looked back. Until my imminent separation and subsequent divorce...then I smoked for about 2 months and then stopped again. My difficult child was 2 at the time. I stopped for about 13 years and when difficult child's behaviors peaked with her being kidnapped and sexually assaulted by an internet predator (and her stupidity) at age 15, the firs thing I did was buy a pack of cigarettes. It's ironic how I immediately went for my old brand. Hmmm. Anyway, I haven't stopped this time. In fact, when I first started smoking again (2 years ago), it was maybe one or two a day, progressed to 3 or 4 and now I stand at about that point, 4/5 a day. Maybe a pack a WEEK.

But I'm an asthmatic and I can feel it in me. My heart kind of races if I smoke a ciggy; I immediately pop in a piece of gum and wash my hands; I only smoke after work or on the road. I know it's not a lot of cigarettes, but I am having a heck of time giving them up. I have a full prescription of Chantix that I bought for difficult child back in April when she said she wanted to quit and our ins covered it, but she hasn't used not even one. It sits there in the pharmacy bag stapled closed. I am tempted to use them for myself, but at 4-5 cigarettes a day, do I need another drug to do so? I asked our family DR and she gave me a snotty look and said, "Go cold turkey!" and walked out of the room. Hmph.

And my biggest question is: After the script has long been used up, what is the long term success rate of Chantix?

My SO tried this drug and it just didn't work. I don't think he was really 100% gung ho to quit either. But he says he was.

You're supposed to quit smoking 7 days from the day you start the medication. He couldn't do it.

He went to about 3 cigs a day, that lasted about a week, and he said the medication wasn't doing anything after a full month. Our insurance doesn't cover it, and for the $100 I had to put out for a month supply, we can't afford that plus the cigs. He had to choose one or the other.

His doctor told him the cigs should, eventually, taste like kerosene should you continue to smoke. Can't confirm that or not.

Well, I am on day 10 and still at about 7 or 8 a day. The cigarettes don't taste different, but the pleasure I get out of them is almost gone. And the "need" or "cravings" are absolutely gone. I plan on taking it for the full 3 months that I was prescribed. I'm going to give it my best shot to quit on the 27th, but if that doesn't work I am not going to beat myself up over it. I'll just pick another day and try then.

On Call...I really didn't WANT to quit smoking. I truly enjoy smoking. But I didn't want to end up like my dad and miss my grandkids growing up. He was Justin's favorite and my dad adored Justin and he did get to see Alex once when he was 4 months old. He died the next summer. I don't want that to happen to me and this baby that is on the way. Anyway, I really didn't want to quit smoking and was very, very skeptical of this medication working. But it has and I am so glad. I know everyone is different and if I had to pay full price for the prescription, I'd still be smoking over a pack a day.